Interview: Apache Tears.

The Manchester based four piece have burst onto the local music scene with roaring guitars and infectious melodies. Becoming friends during their school days and sticking together for 10 years, this time round could just be their best. Moving on from their previous project, Far From The Dance, members Jake and Adam discuss being Northern, learning from past experiences and being dubbed "The best unsigned band in the North".

Was music always an ambition?

Jake: Definitely. It's not about being famous as a musician but really enjoying doing it as long as we can and earning money is just a bi-product.

Adam: It's about being creative, being involved in music rather than wanting to be the next U2 but  don't get me wrong it would be nice!

Why the name Apache Tears?

Adam: It sounds like Attach Your Beards which I thought is fantastic.

Jake: We also got A Patch of Tears which is a little emo! Literally, I was buying a ring for my girlfriend and I saw something called an apache tear so we looked into it and noticed the Johnny Cash link and liked the lyrics of the song. There is a massive determination in the songs story and we've been going for a long time.

Do you think being Northern affects your chances of getting 'noticed'?

Adam: It does but not necessarily negatively because some of the best bands are from the North. We are in the middle of Manchester and Leeds and the Smiths and Oasis are from the area!

Jake: We wanted to be involved in that little family group. 

So, you are proud to be Northern?

Jake: Massively! We moved to London for a few years but the choice to move back here to write a new album was across the board. We wanted to be involved up here, it's what we're all about.

Adam: We recognise that the industry is based in London, that's why we moved down there, but we just want to take our music anywhere where people will have us! We don't want to be a niche Northern band really.

Jake: No matter how far we get in music we will always retain the fact we are from round here.

What do your previous groups mean to you now?

Jake: Far From The Dance almost felt like a gap year. Far From The Dance was quite electronic and we did a lot with the group, we even had Radio 1 plays.

Adam: We were a bit naive and a bit cocky. If we'd have behaved a bit more we might have nailed it! But you learn from that.

Jake: We were very confident as a band. At one point we went away for six weeks and recorded 28 tracks and came back thinking we were the biggest band in the world! We did a huge amount of gigs, around 800! Starting again at this point, maybe it's time to change things.

Adam: It affected us when we moved to London. We were all at an age that we all had our own things to get on with and we didn't live together and I guess the band grew apart.

Do you blame that over-confident attitude for the disbandment of your first bands?

Jake: Not at all, we had massive self belief  and so many songs that had been received well.

Adam: We were drunks ha ha!

Jake: Someone posted our old bands page on the internet and  we'd got 144,000 plays and 11,000 fans! Shit, if we had that now, it would be noticed so much quicker. We almost presumed that because we were getting so many plays that something would just happen.

What feels different now?

Jake: Back in the day, we expected to be a band and something just will happen at some point. Now, it's very real that we are an act and we have to sell a lot of our product to actually get noticed.

Adam: We are traditional as a band and every member is into different things. I think because we are into a wide breadth of music, we wanted this new album to sound traditional, with 11 coherent tracks.

DJ Castell has called you "The best unsigned band in the North" What do you think?

Adam: Dale was a fan of Far From of The Dance. We haven't seen him for at least 8 years! It's very flattering of him to say that. We didn't know he had said that!

Does that encourage you and fuel you to keep going?

Jake: It does! We had cool comments back in the day and we kind of dipped back so to have that when we are starting out again is good.

Adam: We are thankful to our local fan base and it makes starting out again so much easier.

You are at Blueprint studios at Manchester, how is that going?

Adam: The album is recorded! It was recorded throughout March, April and May. It was recorded in Elbow's live room and they were an inspiration for us when we were young.

So, being in more professional surroundings doesn't daunt you?

Adam: We've used studios before so we were familiar with the process. Our music just sounds better! It would be nice for us, and people who've followed us for so long, to get somewhere. We are holding the album and the first step is to promote the 3 tracks we have put up online (via the band's Soundcloud) and we are in talks about getting management behind us and then we can get a booking agent and then support slots or do some smaller shows. You need to build up some heat around the band. It will be more about pushing the music first of all.

How have the past 10 years together been?

Adam: If we weren't enjoying it we wouldn't have been doing it.

Jake: If you didn't like music, then I'd be surprised if you were doing it for anything other than the love of it. An unsigned band isn't going to earn loads of money so if you don't enjoy it you are a lunatic to keep going!

Adam: It's not about money, it's about choosing that lifestyle.

Emma Storey.